Horizontal boring, drilling, and milling machine



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M'AI.. -IVN @31k /ITYNN Jan. 12,1943.` J, M, WALTER v2,307,975 IHORIZONTAL BORING, DRILLING AND MILLING MACHINE 3 Sheets-S'heet 2 Fileduarh 21, 1942'LI INVENTOIL JOHN M ML raf. BY A-roRNEYs. l

\ Jan. 12, 1943. J. M. WALTER 2,307,975

HORIZONTAL BORING, DRILLING AND MILLING MACHINE Filed March 21. 1942 3shets-sneet s INENTOR. r/oH/v M ML TE/. q-M

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 12, 1943 I@ assists HORIZONTAL BORING, DRILLING, AND

MILLING MACHINE John M. Walter, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The G. A.Gray Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a

corporation of Oiiio Application March 21, 1942, Serial No. 435,699

17 Claims. (Cl. X7-57) This invention relates to what are known in thetrade as horizontal boring, drilling and milling machines, and moreparticularly to the spindie feeds for such machines. While the inventionis illustrated herein and described in connection with this particulartype of machine, it

will be clear from a study of the specincations that the invention isapplicable to various types of machine tools having a spindle in whichit is desired to feed the spindle axially.

spindles in machine tools have heretofore been provided with feedingmovement but, in all machines with which I am familiar, some sort ofguide in the frame of the machine was required in order to accomplishthe feed. In some of these feed mechanisms, the actual thrust, axiallyof the spindle, was along a line parallel to the spindle but removedfrom the axis oi the spindle whereby a mechanical couple was set upwhich produced strains in the frame and feed mechanism. In othermechanisms where a single screw was employed, the screw being coaxialwith the spindle, it was necessary to provide a guide in the frame ofthe machine to restrain the nut, which engaged the screw, againstrotation, thus setting up a torque ycouple with resultant binding. In.mechanisms of the type described, accurate machining and alignment ofthe guiding surfaces is essential for eilicient and satisfactoryoperation. Numerous attempts have been made to overcome the difficultiesmentioned above, but so far as I am aware, all such attempts have beenquite complicated and have not been highly successful.

With the above considerations in mind. it is an object of my inventiontoA provide a feed mechanism in which the feed pressure or thrust isapplied substantially axially of the spindle without the aid of theusual secondary member guided in the frame of the machine.

i It is a further object of my invention to pro--A vide means forlocking the spindle against axial movement when it is desired that thespindle vnot have feed movement during the cutting operation.

It is another object of my invention to provide a mechanism as outlinedabove which is relatively simple and cannot get out of adjust` ment,which will be inexpensive to manufacture and which can be assembled as aunit to be applied to the spindle carrying head without necessitatingaccurate alignment therewith so asy to avoid binding of the spindle whensaid spindle is moved axially.

These una other objects or my invention which 55 to engage the powerfeed or pushed inwardly to i will be described more in detailhereinafter or'Y which will be apparent to one skilled in the art uponreading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain constructionand `arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe an ex emplaryembodiment.

Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof and in which: l

Figure l is a front elevation with parts broken 1o away to show theinner construction and with parts in cross-section of the spindlehousing.

Figure 2 is a crosssectional view of the same taken onthe linev 2- ofFigure l.

- Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the l line 3 3 of Figure1.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken' on the une 4-4 of Figure 1. iFigure 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view takenon the line 5 5 ofFigure 4. y

Figure 6 is a detail perspective of one of th nuts which engage the leadscrews.

Figure '1, is a detail perspective viewy of a cam member used inconnection with the clamping arrangement. Figure 8 is a fragmentarycross-sectional view taken on the line l-I of Figure 1.

Figure 9 4is a perspective view of the complete machine.I

Figure l0 is"a fragmentary cross-sectional view '0 taken on the uneln-ll si Figure i.

Figure 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line il-II of Figure l.

Figure l2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line .I2-i2 or Figure l. and i seen from the rear.

Referring iirst to Figure 9, I `have shown a l ,40 machine tool of thetype to which my invention *may be applied, that is, a horizontal oortype boring, drilling and milling machine. This machine has a runway iiiupon Vwhich is mounted acolumn li, and a head i2 isarranged for verticalmovement on the column by means of a lead screw 12a cooperating with anut inside the head i2. The spindle I3 is carried in the head andextends into a housing il. Various handles -and levers are provided onthe head i2 to control speed of rotation of the spindle as well as a.

turnstile for manually traversing the spindle rapidly in eimerdirection. The iumstile is iii-- dicated at i5 and two of the opposedhand members of the turnstile i! may be pulled outwardly described inPatent No. 2,215,627 in the name oi John M. Walter. Since the gearingcontained within the head l2 is fully described in saidV patent, I willnot describe it further herein.

Referring now to Figure 1, the spindle is again shown at I3. The spindleis driven from the motor I8, as described in the above mentioned LettersPatent, vand this drive is not shown in Figure 1; actually it comes intothe spindle to the left of Figure 1. Mounted in suitable bearings in thehousing I4 are a pair of lead screws I9 and 20. In order to balance anytorque created by these lead screws, they are preferably made with thethreads of opposite hands, i. e., one with right hand threads and theother with left hand threads and they are driven in opposite directions.It will be cleanthat nuts on these lead screws will travel in the samedirection when the two lead screws are rotated in opposite directions.When power rapid traversing the spindle these screws are driven from amotor 2| mounted on the back of the spindle housing, in the followingmanner: Referring first to Figure 10, rotation of the motor shaft 22 istransmitted through gears 23 and 2d to one element 25 or a slipV clutchhaving teeth., both sides of which have the same slope. A similarelement 26 is engaged with the member 25 in a yielding manner by 'virtueof the spring 2l bear#V 3 ures 1 and 3, the shaft 32 carries a gear 33which y, meshes with a gear 34; and the gear 3ft drives a /izear 35fixed to the lead screw I9, and the gear 3l also drives a gear 36 fixedto the lead screw Eil through an intermediate gear 3l, the gear 3l on ashaft t5 and engages in ashifter groove it in the clutch element 42. Atthe other end of the shaft t5 is keyed a lever @l which is connected bymeans of a linkage 68, 49, t, to the plunger 5i of a solenoid 52. Thesolenoid 52 is electrically connected to the `pendent switch 53, shownin Figure 9, so that when the appropriate button on the pendent switch53 is pressed, the solenoid 52 is energized and through the linkage,just described, causes the clutch member t2 to shift to the right andthereby engage the clutch element serving only to reverse the directionof rotationY of the lead screw 20 with respect to the lead screw I9'.Hand traversing of the spindle, i. e.. rotation of the lead screws I9`and 2U is accomplished by meansfothefturstile I5 which through gearing,/not/shown, produces rotation of the shaft lll Shaft/40 is also drivenby the hand wheel .itl when the spindle is fed manually. For feeding thespindle by power the shaft is/driven ai; variable speeds by gearing notshown in the drawings, vsince this part of the feed drive is well. knownin the art and does not constitute a part of LhisinVentiOn. The shaft l@carries a clutch Vemberl which is adapted to mesh with a clutch member62 which is vsplined on to the end of the shaft 32. It will be clearthat when the clutch is in the position shown in Figure 1, the spindlemay be traversed by hand, or fed by hand or power. whereas, if theclutch is shifted to the right so that the member 42 engages the clutchelement 33, the spindle may be power rapid traversed.

The shifting of the clutch element l2 is accomplished as best seen inFigures 12 and 13 in connection with Figure 1. A shifter arm fili iskeyed t3 and disconnecting the clutch element d2 from the clutch elementdi. At this time by means, not shown, a circuit is also completed to thepower traverse motor 2i so that the spindle will be power traversed andthe turnstile l5 and hand wheel i@ will not rotate. When the spindle ispower rapid traversed it is essential that the turnstile i5 does notrotate since such rotation might injure the operator.

From the above it will be apparent that to power rapid traverse thespindle it is only necessary to press a button, the clutching anddeclutching being done by the solenoid 52. Two push buttons are providedon the pendent station 53 for power rapid traversing the spindle, onefor traversing to the right and one for traversing to the left.

Since the rotation of the lead screws is proportionate to the feedingmovement of the spindle, means are provided for indicating the amount ofspindle feed as shown in Figures 1 and 3. The lead screw i9 is providedwith a gear @ii which meshes with a gear Ei on a short shaft 62. Alsomounted on the short shaft 62 is a worm t3 which engages a. worm wheelSi mounted on a. stub shaft 55. The shaft extends through a wall of thecasing 6l and carries a graduated dial tt. The dia-l is appropriatelygraduated to indicate the amount of feed of the spindle as will beclear.

Coming now to a description of the connection between the lead screws itand 2?@ and the spindle, reference is had particularly to Figures l, 2,e, 5 and 6. Each of the lead screws it and 2t carries a nut shown indetail in Figure 6, one of the nuts having a right hand thread and onehaving a left hand thread tc cooperate respectively with lead screws i9and 26. These nuts will be indicated by the reference numeral italthough they differ in respect to the direction oi their internalthreads. As will be clear from Figure 6, each nut is provided witlitrunnions ll extending from opposed faces thereof. Rectangular blockshaving bores to fit the trunnions lli are pivotally mounted on thetrunnions 'll as indicated at 72. The blocks 'l2 are engaged by forks itof the cross member it. The cross member it, as will be clear fromconsideration of Figures 2 and d, is forked in two directions at rightangles tc each other so that upper and lower forks ita and lh (Figure 4)engage above and below the nuts it, while arms 73a' and 73a" engage ontwo sides of the blocks 'l2 on one side of the nut and arms E312 andi312" similarly engage below the nut it. From the foregoing description,it will be clear that the lead screws l@ and t@ do not need to beperfectly aligned with the spindle rior do the leads of the two screwshave to be perfectly alike since the connection be'- tween the crossmember 'ld and the respective nuts l@ is such as to permit movement inall necessary directions.

As shown in Figure 5, the end of the spindie iii is reduced and hasbearings in a sleeve t. These bearings, indicated at Bi and t2, are ofthe thrust type and permit of free rotation of the spindle I3 in thesleeve 89. A cap element I9 is threaded onto the sleeve 99 and has apair of ears 94 which embrace the central portion of the cross member'I4 pivotaliy by means of a pin l5. Cross member 14 does not ilt snuglybetween theears 84 of cap 93 as can be seen in Figure 4. Clearance isprovided between the cross member and the ears so that binding will notresult if the lead screws I9 and 29 are out of alignment vertically,with the spindle. It will thus be clear that as the nuts 19 travel alongthe lead screws I9 and 29 they carry with them the cross member 14 andthus, the sleeve 99 and spindle I3.

Means are provided for xedly clamping the spindle against axial movementand these means comprise a pair of clamping elements 99 (Figures 4 and5) which engage in grooves 9| in the sleeve 99. Adjacent their upperends, the clamping elements 99 are held together by means of a nut andbolt as indicated generally at 92 and the washers 93, riding indepressions in the member 99 serve as fulcrums for the clamping members.The upper ends of the clamping members 99 embrace a pair of jaws 89aformed on the sleeve 89. The jaws have soft metal faces 94 which arearranged to engage the clamping bar 99 which extends through the spindlehousing parallel to the spindle and it will be clear that if the lowerends of the members 99 are spread apart using the washers 93 asfulcrums, a clamping action will be exerted -upon the bar 95 and byvirtue of the cooperation of the members 99 in the groove 9| of thesleeve 99, thespindlewill be fixed against axial movement. Below thespindle is provided a splined shaft |99 and a cam element |9| isarranged for sliding movement upon the spline shaft. 'I'he member |9I isshown in detail in Figure 'I and it will be provided with cam surfaces|92. of the members 'Ihe lower ends 99 bear on the cam surfaces |92 andfit between the flanges |99. If now the cam element |9| is rotatedcounterclockwise, as seen in Figure 4, the clamping action abovedescribed ensues. The splined shaft |99 is rotated as shown in Figure11, by means oi' a linkage |94, |95, |99 and the handle |91, whichhandle may be seen in Figure 9 and it will be clear that upon movementoi the handle |91, through the linkage described, the splined shaft andcam element, no matter where it is positioned axially of the splinedshaft, will be rocked causing the members 99 to spread andexert'clamping action by means of the jaws 99a against the bar 95.

While I have described my invention in considerable detail, it will beclear that numerous modifications may be made without departing from thespirit oi' my invention, which modifications would only involve theknowledge of a man skilled in machine tool design. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the description herein is a non-limiting example andthat I do not intend to limit myself otherwise than as pointed out inthe claims which follow.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In, a machine of the class described, a spindle, means for rotatingsaid spindle at a desired speed, and means for feeding said spindleaxially, said means comprising a pair `of lead screws on diametiicallyopposed sides of said spindle, nuts on said lead screws and an elementconnecting said nuts and arranged to bear substantially at its centeragainst said spindle for feeding the same.

observed that it is mitted to Said 2. In a machine of the classdescribed. a spindle, means for rotating said spindle at a desired speedand means for feeding said spindle axially. said means comprising a pairof lead screws on diametrically opposed sides of said spindle, nuts onsaid lead screws, said lead screws having threads of opposite handswhereby the torque reaction is neutralized on the nuts. and an elementconnecting said nuts and ar ranged to bear substantially at its centeragainst said spindle for feeding the same.

3. In a machine of the class described, a spindle, means for rotatingsaid spindle at a desired speed and means for feeding said spindleaxially, said means comprising a pair of lead screws on diametricallyopposed sides of said spindle, nuts on said lead screws, said leadscrews having threads of opposite hands whereby the torque reaction onthe nuts isl neutralized, means for causing rotation of said' leadscrews in 0pposite directions, and an element extending between saidlead screws and' pivotaliy connected to said nuts and a thrust bearingon the end of said. element substantially the center thereof, wherebyslight variations in alignment of said lead screws with respect to thespindle will .not cause binding, and whereby the thrust is transspindlealong the axis thereof.

4. In a machine of a class described, a spindle, means for rotating saidspindle at a desired speed and means for feeding said spindle axially,said means comprising a pair of lead screws on diametrically opposedsides of said spindle. nuts Von said lead screws, said lead screwshaving threads of opposite hands whereby their torque reaction on thenuts is neutralized, manual means for rotating said lead screws inopposite directions, power means for rotating said lead screws inopposite directions, an element extending between said lead screws andpivotaliy and slidably connected to said nuts, a thrust bearing on theend of said spindle, a pivotal connection between said thrust bearingand said element substantially at the center of said element, wherebymisalignment of said lead screws will binding, and whereby the saidthrust is transmitted to said spindle along the axis thereof, and meansoperative when said power means are in use to cause disengagement ofsaid hand feeding means. f

5. In a machine ofthe class described having a rotatable and feedablespindle, means for locking said spindle against movement axially,comprising a clamping bar extending parallel to said spindle, a pair ofclamping members having jaws operatively disposed with respect to saidclamping bar and fixed against axial movement with respect to saidspindle, and cam means for actuating said clamping members. 's

6. In a machineof the class described having a rotatable and feedablespindlefmeans for locking said spindle against movement axially,comprising a clamping bar extending parallel to said spindle, a pair ofclamping members having jaws operatively disposed with respect to saidclamping bar and xed against axial movement with respect to saidspindle, cam means` for actuating said clamping members, and meanscarried by the spindle with which the clampinggmembers are connected,said means having grippers thereon which lie between the jaws and theclamping bar.

7. In a machine of the class described having a rotatable and feedablespindle, means for locking said spindle against movement axially, com-

